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WHITTIER 

AS 

^ politician 

Illustrated by his Letters to Professor 
Elizur Wright, jV. Now first 
published, 

Editedy with Explanatory 'Text^ by 
Samuel T. Pickard. 




BOSTOK 

Charles E. Goodspeed 

5 a Park Street 

1900 



Library of Congress 

Two CWES Rechveo 
JAN 23 1901 






Ik 



FIRST COPY 



Copyright^ i g O O, by Charles E. Goodspeed. 
All rights reserved. 



ivHirriER 



AS A 



POLITICIAN 




N the last years of his 
life, Whittier's fame as a 
poet and philanthropist 
so greatly overshad- 
owed his reputation as 
a shrewd and skillful 
politician, gained in the early and middle 
portions of his career, that the revelations 
made in his "Life and Letters '* were sur- 
prising to most of his admirers. His earliest 
ambitions were political rather than liter- 
ary, and before entering upon the anti- 
slavery crusade he aspired to a seat in 
Congress. When he espoused the cause 



2 W^hittier as a Politician 

of the slave, however, he not only gave up 
all hopes in that direction, but did not hes- 
itate to becloud his literary prospects by 
steady advocacy of a reform so unpopular 
that for years he was shut out from all hope 
of gaining a livelihood by his pen. The in- 
stincts of the politician were never dead 
within him, and to the end of his life he took 
the liveliest interest in the details of partisan 
conflict. Unlike many of the abolitionists, 
he never failed to make use of all the rights 
of citizenship. Although a third party man, 
and in a small minority until the Republican 
party came into power, his constant effort 
was to secure the election of either a Whig 
or a Democrat, it mattered not which, from 
whom he could obtain a pledge of at least 
partial support of anti-slavery demands. 
Thus, he induced the Liberty men of North 
Essex to unite with the Whigs to send Caleb 
Gushing to Congress, on Cushing's personal 
pledge to him that he would favor the right 
of petition, and freedom in the District of 



IVhittier as a Politician 3 

Columbia. In South Essex he did a similar 
service for RobertRantoul, Jr.,a Democrat. 
He favored Marcus Morton for governor, 
against Edward Everett, and Morton was 
elected by the narrow margin of one major- 
ity. He was particularly active in the fusion 
that placed Charles Sumner in the Senate. 
At every election, town, state, or national, 
neither sickness nor storm prevented his ap- 
pearing at the Amesbury town house. He 
used to take pleasure in saying that he voted 
for the presidency of Abraham Lincoln of- 
tener than did any other man in the country. 
He had the unique honor of being a member 
of the electoral college, on both occasions, 
in 1 860 and in 1 864. 

Most of the following letters to his friend 
Professor Wright show him in the light of 
an earnest and active politician, whose sole 
motive was the public welfare. Some of 
them have a humorous or satirical .turn, 
thoroughly characteristic of the man in his 
intercourse with friends. 



4 JVhittier as a Politician 

Prof. Elizur Wright, Jr., to whom these 
letters of Whittier were addressed, was born 
ill South Canaan, Conn., in 1 804. When he 
was six years of age his father removed to 
Tallmadge, Ohio, and became the principal 
of an academy at that place. His home was 
a station of the " underground railroad,'* 
where fugitive slaves were sheltered, and 
young Elizur early acquired anti-slavery 
opinions . He was graduated at Yale in 1 8 2 6, 
and three years later became professor of 
mathematics and natural philosophy in the 
Western Reserve College, Hudson, Ohio. 
In December, 1 833, he attended the conven- 
tion at Philadelphia which formed the Amer- 
ican Anti-Slavery Society, and here he first 
met Whittier. They were the youngest of 
the delegates, but each had already acquired 
a flattering reputation — the one as a poet, 
and the other as a teacher. They were cho- 
sen secretaries of the convention, and both 
of them at this time consecrated their lives 
to the cause, giving up all other ambitions. 



Whittier as a Politician 5 

Their friendship was cemented by many 
years of labor together in promoting a most 
unpopular reform. 

In 1837 they spent several months to- 
gether at the rooms of the American Anti- 
Slavery Society , in New York. A small part 
of their work was editing the " Emancipa- 
tor '' and the "Anti-Slavery Reporter." In 
the same building James G. Birney, Theo- 
dore D. Weld, Henry B. Stanton, and Joshua 
Leavitt had desks, and all were busily en- 
gaged in the effort to awaken the conscience 
of the country to the sin of slavery. They 
wrote personal appeals to public men, dis- 
tributed in every Congressional district in 
the North petitions to be signed against the 
interstate slave trade, and in favor of free- 
dom in the District of Columbia. They 
employed lecturers, wrote tracts, and oper- 
ated a central station of the " underground 
railroad." In 1838 Whittier went to Phil- 
adelphia, and edited the " Pennsylvania 
Freeman" until early in 1 840, when serious 



6 JVhittier as a Politician 

illness compelled him to retire to his home 
in Amesbury . A Philadelphia physician told 
him he had not a year to live unless he gave 
up work. But in every interval of freedom 
from suffering he v^rote poems that stirred 
the pulse of the v^hole North, and his letters 
to public men were full of wise counsel for 
the conduct of political campaigns. Some of 
the letters given below are fair samples of 
his method of work. Though warmly en- 
gaged in the same cause with Garrison, he 
could not agree with all the methods of that 
great leader, and occasionally there were 
sharp conflicts between them. Some of 
these differences are hinted at in these let- 
ters to his friend Wright. 

In 1 8s9 Professor Wright came to Boston 
and edited the " American Abolitionist." 
His " Chronotype " was started in 1 846. In 
later years, after the battle for freedom 
was won, having a genius for mechanics 
and mathematics, Wright patented several 
useful inventions, and made a study of life 



TVhittier as a Politician 7 

insurance statistics which led him to secure 
legislative enactments that have proved of 
great value to both insurers and insured. He 
was for eight years insurance commissioner 
of Massachusetts, and was afterwards con- 
sulting actuary of life insurance companies. 
He was instrumental in obtaining the pas- 
sage of the Massachusetts forestry act of 
1882. He died in Medford,Mass.,in 1885. 
We have at hand only Mr. Whittier's 
side of the correspondence between these 
earnest philanthropists. The first of these 
letters is a playful note sent by Whittier 
to Wright, while they were both employed 
as secretaries in the office of the American 
Anti-Slavery Society in New York. It was 
in the month of February, 1837, and it may 
be guessed from the tone of the poet's billet 
that his room in the third story was not 
well warmed. He treats of the matter in a 
characteristically humorous way. 



8 TVhittier as a Politician 

3D Story, 8th zd Mo., 1837. 

Friend Wright : I thank thee for thy 
favor, and would cheerfully grant thy re- 
quest, but I am at present engaged in cer- 
tain scientific experiments, and trying to 
solve certain difficult problems, as for exam- 
ple the following : — 

1. What amount of coal, without Jire, 
will warm a room 1 2 by 1 3 feet ? 

2. If ideas are things, as Bishop Berke- 
ley supposes, what is the reason that xheidea 
of afire will not be a good substitute for the 
reality ? 

Thine, etc., J. G. W. 



To understand the allusions in the next 
letter, it is necessary to remember that the 
division in the anti-slavery ranks had al- 
ready been effected — the "old organiza- 
tion " under Garrison having taken ground 
against political action, and the "new or- 
ganization/' to which Whittier and Wright 



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Whittier as a Politician 9 

belonged, favoring the use of the ballot. 
Whittier begins with a reference to Garri- 
son's change of front in this matter, and then 
shows a little natural resentment in regard 
to a paragraph that appeared a fortnight be- 

: fore in the "Liberator, ''on theoccasion of his 
being forced by serious illness to give up the 

j editorship of the "Pennsylvania Freeman." 
This is the paragraph referred to: — 

"J. G. Whittier has retired from the edi- 

1 torial chair of the * Freeman.' The time has 

I been when we should have deeply regret- 
ted to make this announcement; but, in his 
present state of mind, as it respects political 
action, and 'new organization,' and in view 
of the course he has thought proper to pur- 
sue in regard to the state of things in this his 
native commonwealth, we are reconciled to 
his withdrawal." 

On account of this paragraph Whittier's 

i friends in Pennsylvania made a demonstra- 
tion in his favor, and there was consider- 
able bitterness engendered. The Eastern 



10 JVhittier as a Politician 

Pennsylvania Society, being asked by Mrs. 
Chapman " to deal with Whittier as his state 
of mind requires/' responded by selecting 
him to represent their society at the World's 
Convention in London. When this letter to 
Wright was written he had not received his 
credentials. When they came he planned 
to go, but was warned by his physician that 
the voyage and the excitement of the con- 
vention would be too much for his frail hold 
on life. 

The outrage on the venerable Philadel- 
phia Quaker consisted in riding him on arail. 
His mild and intrepid demeanor prevented 
the application of tar and feathers prepared 
for the occasion, beyond a slight smearing 
of his coat. 

The sentence about the celestial empire 
is a satirical allusion to the fact that the" new 
organization," which had its headquarters in 
New York, had sent Henry B. Stanton to 
lecture and collect funds in Massachusetts, 
a field the "old organization" claimed for 



JVhittier as a Politician 1 1 

itself. The " Liberator '' of that week con- 
tained an editorial paragraph severely ani- 
madverting upon the intrusion.^ This seems 

1 In 1879, in his Introduction to Oliver Johnson's 
work on Garrison and His Times, Whittier refers to the 
strained relations which for a time existed between 
him and Garrison in these terms : — 

" I felt it my duty to use my right of citizenship at 
the ballot box in the cause of liberty, while Garrison, 
with equal sincerity, judged and counselled otherwise. 
Each acted under a sense of individual duty and re- 
sponsibility, and our personal relations were undis- 
turbed. If, at times, the great anti-slavery leader 
failed to do justice to the motives of those who while 
in hearty sympathy with his hatred of slavery did not 
agree with some of his opinions and methods, it was 
but the pardonable and not unnatural result of his 
intensity of purpose, and his self-identification with 
the cause he advocated ; and, while compelled to dis- 
sent, in some particulars, from his judgment of men 
and measures, the great mass of the anti-slavery peo- 
ple recognized his moral leadership. The controver- 
sies of Old and New organization, Non-Resistance 
and Political action, may now be looked upon by the 
parties to them, who still survive, with the philosophic 
calmness which follows the subsidence of prejudice 
and passion." 



12 



JVhittier as a Politician 



to have reminded Whittier of the exclusive- 
ness of China, which was just then having 
trouble with the too enterprising merchants 
of England. 

Professor Wright was at this time editing 
the "Abolitionist/' an organ of the "new 
organization," which opposed the " Libera- 
tor '* not only on the question of using the 
ballot, but on several side issues, such as the 
appointment of women as delegates to con- 
ventions and as members of committees. 
This opposition to "women's rights'* was 
steady and consistent. Whittier as a Qua- 
ker was all his life an equally steady advo- 
cate of the rights of women, but he objected 
to making this an issue in the anti-slavery 
contest. "One thing at a time" was his 
motto. The following letter was addressed 
to Professor Wright, at his office, No. 32 
Washington Street, Boston : — 



JVhittier as a Politician 



13 



Amesbury, Essex Co., 
14TH OF 30 Month, 1840. 

My Dear Friend, E. W., Jr. : Why 
hast thou never published the resolutions 
upon political action adopted at the New 
England Anti-Slavery Convention for 1 838, 
going the v^^hole figure onXhQduty of voting? 
These resolutions v^ere advocated by Gar- 
rison himself, and the v^hole body of the 
non-resistants voted for them,v^ith the ex- 
ception of C. C. Burleigh and two or three 
others — one a Van Buren man, who could 
not give up his party. Look up the " Liber- 
ator " of that time. [^The resolutions re- 
ferred to were introduced by Whittier.] 

Garrison, it seems, is " reconciled " to my 
leaving the "Freeman." This is consola- 
tory. The great efforts made to render the 
abolitionists of Pennsylvania disaffected with 
me having totally failed, and indeed recoiled 
on their own heads, the next best thing is to 
have me quit the ground, whether by sick- 
ness or otherwise. 



14 JVhittier as a Politician 

I want to be at the National Convention 
at Albany, but my health is miserable, and I 
must be content with wishing that it maybe 
well attended by others. I am not entirely 
clear in favor of nominations now — but it 
may be that I am mistaken. 

Who will represent your society in the 
London Convention ? Why can't thee go? 
Or A. A. Phelps t Let the new as well as 
the C^old^ have a hearing. 

What a diabolical outrage upon our friend 
Neall in Delaware ! He has been a devoted 
friend of the slave from his youth upward, 
and is a man of the most undaunted courage 
and moral intrepidity. This was evinced at 
the time of the destruction of Pennsylvania 
Hall, and on various other occasions. It 
makes me almost ready to preach a crusade 
like another Peter the Hermit against the 
rascally slaveholders. 

Tell H. B. S. [^Stanton^, if thee see him, 
that I shall expect a visit from him ere 
long — at all events before he leaves the 



JVhittier as a Politician 15 

" Debatable Land ' ' of the Bay State. By the 
bye, how dared the " barbarian " to set his 
foot upon the soil of the '* celestial empire," 
and insult the presence of the Uncle to the 
Sun and Cousin to the Moon ? Resolve me 
that, Mr. New Organizer. 

Remember me kindly to " her of thine 
household," and believe me affectionately 
thy friend 

Jno. G. Whittier. 

% % % % % 
The above letter was in a few days fol- 
lowed by another, in which Whittier argued 
against the selection of a third party can- 
didate for the presidency at the Albany 
convention. His advice was not followed ; 
James G. Birney was nominated,* with 
Thomas Earle of Philadelphia as candidate 
for Vice-President. The result justified 
Whittier's prediction. The movement was 
denounced as a Van Buren trick, and less 

^ He was in England, and was not given an oppor- 
tunity to refuse. 



16 W^hittter as a Politician 

than eight thousand votes were secured in 
the whole country. It will be remembered 
that this was the beginning of the notable 
"Tippecanoe and Tyler too" campaign, 
which resulted in the triumphant election 
of General Harrison. When the question of 
slavery was not involved, Whittier's sympa- 
thies were with the Whig party. He began 
political life as a partisan of Henry Clay, for 
whom he wrote several spirited campaign 
poems. Professor Wright's early affinities 
were with the Democratic party. 

Amesbury, 25TH 3D Mo., 1840. 

My Dear Friend, E. W., Jr. : In an- 
swer to thy kind letter inviting me to visit 
thee at thy country seat, I can only say that 
I would do so gladly were my health such as 
to admit of it. I am really ill, and any expo- 
sure or fatigue is sure to be visited severely 
upon me. 

One word in regard to the convention at 
Albany. I am glad it has been called ; it is 



TVhittier as a Politician 17 

proper that the great question should be 
discussed, and that abolitionists should be 
exhorted to maintain their integrity. But 
credit me, for I know, that nine tenths of the 
voting abolitionists (and all the non- voting 
of course) will be opposed to ^nomination at 
this time. Besides, you can find nobody to 
stand the abuse, misrepresentation, and In- 
dian warfare which will be waged against 
them. Gerrit Smith positively refuses to 
stand as a candidate. So will James G. Bir- 
ney. Judge Jay, or any other prominent man 
in our cause. It will be folly to put men in 
nomination, and then have them come out in 
the papers and decline; and any man who is 
worthy of such a nomination will most assur- 
edly do so. The nomination will be, in my 
i opinion, strongly opposed in Pennsylvania. 
It will be denounced as a Van Buren trick to 
defeat the Whigs ; and the fact poshua^ 
Leavitt and thyself are anti-Whig will be 
used with great effect. All the State soci- 
eties will join hands with the Boston folks in 



18 JVhittier as a Politician 

denouncing the movement. I speak confi- 
dently on this point. 

Yet the time is rapidly coming when the 
friends of freedom will be compelled to take 
a stand against slavery. The Charleston, 
S. C, papers are running up the Calhoun 
flag for 1844! The North will take, as a 
matter of necessity abolition ground, and the 
battle will be between the free and slave- 
labor interests. 

Let your convention settle the question 
that it is right and proper to use political 
action for the overthrow of slavery ; that 
independent nominations are a legitimate 
means of carrying our principles into the 
politics of the country; that Martin Van 
Buren and William Henry Harrison are un- 
worthy of the support of abolitionists ; that 
it is better in this case to forego the privilege 
of voting on the Presidential question alto- 
gether than to sacrifice the interests of free- 
dom by aiding in the election of an enemy 
to the cause. 



Whittier as a Politician 19 

That the opposition manifested to the 
nomination of candidates at this time on the 
part of abolitionists in various sections of 
the country ; the brief period which remains 
to present the claims of these candidates to 
the public ; the desire on the part of the 
convention to promote harmony in the anti- 
slavery ranks, — induce you to decline mak- 
ing this nomination, which under other cir- 
cumstances you believe would have been 
attended with highly favorable results to the 
cause. 

I write in great haste, and am not able 
to express myself as fully and clearly as I 
could wish. Thee will however understand 
my ideas. Take high ground as you please 
on the duty of exercising our rights and 
privileges as citizens, and commend to the 
serious consideration of abolitionists the 
question whether the time has not arrived 
when duty to the slave requires of us to take 
an unflinching, uncompromising stand, in- 
dependent of caucus and party. But do not 



20 TVhtttier as a Politician 

gratify your enemies by making any nomina- 
tion. It will not he voted hy one half of the 
men who now profess to he in favor of it. Im- 
mediately after the Presidential election let 
a convention be called ; you will then have 
only the non-resistant non- voters to oppose 
you. 

I hope to be able to be in Boston in the 
course of a fortnight, when we will talk 
over the matters contained in thv note at 
leisure. Where is Bro. Stanton.'* I ex- 
pected to see him at Amesbury. I had an 
excellent letter from friend Gerrit Smith a 
few days ago. 

With love to all thy household, I am af- 
fectionately and truly thy old friend, 

John G. Whittier. 

*!ic ^ :ii, ^iL 

av TfT TUT 'Jfe 

In the following note, written in July, 
1841, Whittier shows his constant interest 
in the game of politics. He suggests Rev. 
John Pierpont, at that time pastor of the 



IVhittier as a Politician 21 

Hollis Street Church, Boston, as the Liberty 
party candidate for Governor, not expecting 
a choice by the people, but hoping to throw 
the election into the legislature. In 1 842 
Whittier made a similar effort to secure his 
brother poet as a candidate of his party for 
Congress. Several years afterward, the 
party selected Pierpont as its candidate for 
both these offices. The allusion to Joseph 
Sturge in this letter is a reminder that for 
several months in 1841 Whittier accompa- 
nied this eminent English philanthropist in 
his travels through this country. 

Amesbury, Mass., 12th 7th Mo. [1841]. 

Dear Wright, — It is the opinion of 
many friends that some well known person 
should be our candidate for Governor. 
Could we not induce John Pierpont to stand ? 
If so, we should rally on our side the over- 
whelming temperance host, and in all prob- 
ability secure his election by carrying him 
into the legislature. I want an opportunity 



22 JVhittier as a Politician 

apart even from abolitionism, to do honor to 
John Pierpont. There are thousands who 
feel as I do. He might not wish it, but if 
the matter was duly pressed upon him, would 
he refuse us the use of his name ? Pray think 
of it, and if it strikes thee favorably, ^c^/or^A- 
with. 

I only went as far as Worcester with J. 
Sturge. I shall be back to Boston in a few 
days, if I am able. 

Ever and truly thine, 
J. G. W. 

***** 

The next letter in this series is one written 
by Whittier on the eve of Wright's sailing 
for England in 1 844. It enclosed letters of 
introduction to some of Whittier 's literary 
friends, and contained a suggestion which 
resulted in an edition of Whittier 's " Ballads 
and Other Poems " being published in Lon- 
don, with an introduction by Prof. Wright, 
in the course of the same year. At this time 
the only collections of Whittier's poems that 



Whittier as a Politician 



23 



had been published were the Philadelphia 
edition of 1838, and " Lays of my Home and 
Other Poems," issued by Ticknor & Fields, 
Boston, in 1843. These are the two volumes 
referred to in the following letter, from 
which the proposed selections were to be 
made : — 

Amesbury, 24TH 2D Mo., 1844. 

Dear Wright, — I send thee four let- 
ters, and would f^have sent] more, but in 
truth I have no English correspondence 
worth speaking of. Gurney is a good 
French scholar, and something of an influ- 
ential man, well acquainted with European 
literati. 

Will thee do a little errand for me ? It 
has been intimated that my poems would be 
republished in England in Clarke's publi- 
cations, like Longfellow's, etc. Now, if the 
deed is not done when thee arrive, will thee 
take the trouble to see Clarke and let him 
publish a volume under thy superintend- 
ence ? It should be made up from both of my 



24 TVhittier as a Politician 

volumes, leaving out a part of each. Per- 
haps this would be a fair selection : — 

FROM VOL. I. 

Stanzas, 

C. B. Storrs. 

Hunters of Men. 

Gov. McDuffie. 

Lines on Reading " Right and Wrong [in Bos- 
ton]." 

Thomas Shipley. 

The Slave Ships. 

Stanzas for the Times. 

Ritner. 

Clerical Oppressors. 

Lines on Pinckney's Resolutions. 

S. O. Torrey. 

Massachusetts (with the omission of the fifth 
verse). 

Farewell of Virginia Slave Mother. 

Address Pa. Hall. 

Palestine. 

The Female Martyr. 

The two translations from Lamartinc. 

Familist's Hymn. 



TVhittier as a Politician 



25 



Call of the Christian. 

The Crucifixion. 

The Fratricide. 

The Fountain. 

Pentucket ; the last line but one should read, 

" Whose grass-grown surface overlies." 
Stanzas suggested by the Letter of a Friend. 

FROM VOL. 2. 

The Norsemen. 

Ballad of Cassandra Southwick. 

Funeral Tree of the Sokokis. 

St. John. 

Follen. 

To a Friend returning from Europe. 

Raphael. 

Democracy ; with the first line of the 13 th verse 
to read thus : " Not from the poor and shal- 
low fount." 

Lines written on reading pamphlets published 
by Clergymen in Defence of the Gallows. 

Cypress Tree of Ceylon. 

Chalkley Hall ; the last verse save one, last 
line, let it read : " Like brother pilgrims 
turn." 



26 TVhittier as a Politician 

Massachusetts to Virginia. 

Memories. 

Lines on Receiving a Cane from the Wood of 

Pa. Hall. 
To , with a copy of Woolman. 

I have written these down as they oc- 
curred to me, without arranging them . Per- 
haps, if published, the anti-slavery poems 
should come first, including the two poems 
from the Boston volume. Then, under the 
head of Ballads, "The Norsemen,'* " Cas- 
sandra Southwick," "Sokokis," "Fratri- 
cide," " Fountain," " Pentucket," " St. 
John," and "Familist'sHymn," might fol- 
low ; and then the others under the head of 
" Miscellaneous." I have no copy of the 
Philadelphia volume, or I would send it with 
this. Please procure one somewhere, and 
aLo get one on my account at Ticknor's, of 
the Boston edition. I am sorry to trouble 
thee, but I can't well avoid it just now, as the 
temptation to do so is strong. On thy way 
over, if thou art not too seasick, thou canst 



JVhittier as a Politician 27 

make a selection from my selection, to suit thy 
judgment. I enclose "Daniel Wheeler/' 
which would be pleasant perhaps to our 
English friends. 

I think an edition of my poems would sell 
pretty well in England, irrespective of any 
merit or demerit. The Friends and Aboli- 
tionists would buy them. Did thee see John 
and Maria Candler when in the United 
States? I give thee a line to them. They 
will give thee an introduction totheHowitts, 
to whom, if thee see them, express on my 
behalf the gratitude I owe them for the plea- 
sure I have derived from their writings. 

And now, dear Elizur, God bless and 
prosper thee abundantly, and, if consistent 
with His will, may we both live to talk over 
thy adventures in old England. As ever thy 
true friend and brother in the cause of free- 
dom, 

John G. Whittier. 

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 



28 JVhittier as a Politician 

While Prof. Wright was in London, he 
received the following letter from Whittier. 
For an explanation of the reference to the 
*' J. L.Brown case/' see Whittier's Complete 
Poetical Works, Cambridge edition, p. 
289. Extracts are there given from Judge 
O'Neale's remarkable address to the pris- 
oner, who was sentenced to death for aiding 
a young slave woman, whom he loved and 
had married, to escape from slavery. Whit- 
tier's strong epithet, " devilishly religious," 
is abundantly justified by these extracts. 
The case excited much attention in England 
as well as in this country. Thirteen hun- 
dred clergymen and clerical officers in 
Great Britain addressed a memorial to the 
churches of South Carolina against the 
atrocity. The sentence was commuted to 
scourging and banishment. Whittier's in- 
dignant verses were omitted from several 
editions of his complete works ; but, in 1 888, 
when he made his last revision of his poems, 
he decided to include " The Sentence of John 



TVhittier as a Politician 



29 



L. Brown." In the following letter this is 
the poem referred to as " Stanzas for the 
Times, 1 844. " This was a favorite title with 
Whittier, and was originally attached to 
several of his poems written between 1835 
and 1850. It will be noticed that Whittier 
says "there is nothing in the * North Star' 
worth reprinting/' And yet that work con- 
tained "The Exiles." 

Amesbury, 28th 4TH Mo., 1844. 

My Dear Friend : A thousand thanks 
for thy kind letter; and I only regret that I 
am so situated just now as to oblige me to 
give thee but a poor apology for an answer. 

I saw with pleasure in the London "Anti- 
Slavery Reporter" a communication of 
thine relating to J. L. Brown's case. Thou 
wilt see that the poor fellow has escaped 
with that which to some would be worse 
than death itself — a disgraceful public 
whipping. The truth is the man owes his 
life to the devilishly religious ( I can think of 



30 TVhittier as a Politician 

no more expressive term) tone of the sen- 
tence of Judge O'Neale. It shocked the 
sober unfanatical class. It made too broad a 
farce of piety and religious profession ; it too 
completely confounded all distinctions be- 
tween right and wrong, and so editors and 
ministers who can look unconcerned upon 
the growing power of the system of which 
the case is the legitimate fruit, cried out 
against it, and their remonstrances unques- 
tionably had an effect upon the civil authori- 
ties of South Carolina. 

I wish I had time and space to write out all 
I feel and could say in this miserable business 
of Repudiation ; for I think it can be demon- 
strated that slavery is at the bottom of it. 
Mississippi set the example, or rather some 
counties of that State, several years ago, by 
driving the sheriffs out of their limits and 
pulling down court-houses, and establishing 
Judge Lynch's summary tribunal as a court 
of appeals from the decisions of those ordi- 
nary tribunals which still in some sort held , 



JVhittier as a Politician 31 

and acted upon the commonly received no- 
tions of meum and tuum. It has been for the 
last ten years as much as a man's life was 
worth to attempt the collection of debts in 
certain portions of the Mississippi valley. 
The dunned slaveholder had only to pro- 
nounce his unwelcome visitor an abolitionist^ 
and the creditor was glad to escape with a 
whole skin, and let his debt liquidate itself. 
Instead of suspending payment as others do 
who owe more than they can or are willing 
] to pay, the slaveholder had nothing to do but 
to suspend his creditor to the first tree. 

Do let the people of England understand 
that it is not Democracy, but its baleful an- 
tagonist, the monopoly and oligarchy of 
Slavery which repudiates. The whole coun- 
try is to a greater or less extent demoralized 
by the legalized robbery of the system. 

I send thee with this, though I fear too 
late, a copy of three poems of mine, " The 
Christian Slave/' " Stanzas for the Times, 
1 844,'' and " Texas — Voice of New Eng- 



32 Whittier as a Politician 

land." If possible I should like to have them 
in the volume. I think the " Stanzas" v^ill 
convince thee that v^e are not all miserable 
and silent in respect to J.L.Brown. There is 
nothing in the " North Star" of mine w^orth 
reprinting. I could send thee a dozen more 
pieces, but there is enough in all conscience. 
Do as thee think best about altering that 
verse in " Texas." I am not a good judge 
of what is best in such cases. 

Thou wilt see that the Liberty Party is 
aroused. New Hampshire vote doubled. 
Connecticut, a small gain — 1872 last year 
— this year 1971. The Whigs and Locos 
made desperate exertions, and little or none 
made on our part, save by one man: W. H. 
Burleigh, who has done his duty. 

Remember me kindly to George Thomp- 
son and John Scoble and Joseph Sturge, 
when thee see them. I shall write to Joseph, 
if possible. I like thy letters " hugely " as 
Tristram Shandy's father said of Yorick's 
sermon. They are true, graphic and spirited. 



JVhittier as a Politician 33 

I have only time to say, God bless thee, and 
prosper thee. 

J. G. Whittier. 

***** 

The following letter, written in October, 
1 845 , in the heat of the anti-Texas campaign , 
illustrates Whittier 's shrewdness as a politi- 
cian. He sees the uselessness of contending 
against the admission of Texas as a territory, 
and would narrow the contest to the question 
of its coming in as a slave State : — 



Amesbury, 14TH lOTH Mo., [1845.] 

My Dear Friend : Thy note has been 
received and I haste to say that what with 
fatigue and anxiety of the late convention, 
and a severe cold which I took there, I have 
been confined at home for several days sick, 
and shall of course be unable to be with you 
to-morrow. Were it in my power I would 
not fail be present. 

Two things occur to me : i st. As to the 



34 TVhittier as a Politician 

character of the movement. It is too late to 
make it — at least before the public — an 
2iX\\\-Texas one. The people believe Texas 
[^ought^ to he annexed, and a majority of 
them believe it either right in itself, or as a 
sort of providential necessity in the devel- 
opment ofour Anglo Saxon destiny. But a 
large portion of the noisiest Democrats even, 
who are hoarse v^^ith hurras for Texas, would 
be glad if that ugly matter of slavery could 
[Tbe] shown not to be after all an inevitable 
condition of annexation. Now then, let us 
not attempt impossibilities, but take our stand 
not against the territory of Texas, but its 
slavery. Let us confine ourselves to a simple 
remonstrance against the admission of Texas 
as a slave State into the Union. With this we 
can go before the people, and, in spite of the 
office-holders, we can carry them with us. 

2nd. As to the circulation of the remon- 
strances for signature. Could there not 
be measures taken for having the remon- 
strances in a conspicuous and proper place at 



JVhittier as a Politician 35 

every town meeting on the i oth of Novem- 
ber ? In this v^ay , a majority , to say the least, 
of our legal voters would sign the petition 
beyond a doubt. Let there be a suitable per- 
son, or persons, to take charge of it in each 
town, and the work would be done. 

Of one thing, however, I am painfully 
convinced. The labor, the responsibility, 
the expense of this movement will fall where 
all similar ones have fallen, on the poor, de- 
spised abolitionists. With a few noble excep- 
tions, even the Whigs will do nothing, and 
in giving their names will consider that they 
have laid us under heavy obligations. Well, 
be it so. Let us thank God that we can carry 
the burden ourselves. For one, so long as I 
can wield a pen, or lift a voice, I am willing 
to work ; and if Texas comes in red with 
slavery,itshallnotbemyfault. In anything 
thata sickman can do, command my services. 

I believe with $10,000 to expend in em- 
ploying persons in all the States to devote 
themselves to the work for the next three 



36 JVhittier as a Politician 

months, we would stop this infernal scheme 
of slavery. We did it in 183 7, at the expense 
of half that sum, and of labor which thee and 
Stanton and myself can appreciate. 
Ever and cordially thy friend, 

John G. Whittier. 

^fi :jf. ^ ^ ^ 

Five days later he wrote this letter, which 
still further illustrates his zeal, energy, and 
shrewdness as a politician. He was greatly 
interested in the split in the Democratic party 
in New Hampshire, which resulted the next 
year in placing John P. Hale in the U. S. 
Senate. On the back of this letter Professor 
Wright has written, " A blowing up ! '* 

Amesbury, 19TH lOTH Mo., 1845. 

My Dear Wright, — What does it' 
mean ? The last " Emancipator '' comes out 
on the 1 6th inst. with Dr. Brewster for Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, and in the same paper y 
under date of the 1 oth is a call for a meeting 



Whittier as a Politician si 

of the State Liberty Committee to nominate 
somebody else in his place ! Is that your way 
of doing business ? For Heaven's sake, let us 
know here what you have concluded upon. 
The " Transcript " here had Burritt week 
before last ; last week it had Brewster, and 
this week nobody ! All this looks like child's 
play — or rather, that for want of due energy 
at headquarters our election is going by de- 
fault. The committee should consider that 
we have not Mrs. Chapman's clairvoyant 
powers, and have no supernatural means of 
getting at their decision. 

My health is still miserable or I would be 
with you at your meeting at Sewall's. As 
to the Middlesex convention, I don't think 
much of it. Speech-making and resolutions 
— in the name of common sense, what are 
they wanted for } Where are the men and 
women to go from house to house over the 
whole State, and get names to the remon- 
strance.'' That's the question. Letsuchmen 
as [S. Qr\ Phillips and Hoar and Child give 



38 JVhittter as a Politician 

now one twentieth part as much as we poor 
dogs have done heretofore to keep Texas out 
of the Union, and it will be of more service 
than a ton of speeches. You need $1000 to 
carry on the work thoroughly. 

Let the Middlesex convention do this: Is- 
sue an appeal to the people of Massachusetts 
— brief and earnest — every word electric 
— appealing to all classes ^0 act at once'm the 
circulation of the remonstrance. Let a col- 
lection be set on foot to defray the expenses 
of the Texas committee, and to circulate the 
Report, etc. , of Sewall. Let a committee be 
chosen to correspond at once with anti-Texas 
men in other States, and to urge them to 
action. Let a committee be raised to solicit 
funds to carry forward the operations of the 
(state) committee, and, sub rosa, to enable 
the committee to aid in sustaining the cause in 
New Hampshire. This must be done. The 
anti-Texas men of New Hampshire need as- 
sistance, and the anti-Texas men of Massa- 
chusetts must give it. Of course this must 



JVhittier as a Politician 39 

be managed with caution and secrecy. The 
Texas party there will strain every nerve to 
elect Woodbury. Better than a thousand 
petitions would be their defeat at the next 
trial. In haste thy friend, 

John G. Whittier. 

« * ^ « # 

A few days later "Whittier wrote again, 
enclosing the Amesbury remonstrance. He 
says: " The unfortunate weather last week 
prevented me from doing much in the way 
of its circulation. Nearly all our voters 
would have signed, could we have seen 
them.'' The work of securing signatures 
to the remonstrances was pushed with vigor 
throughout the State, and a monster peti- 
tion, with the names of sixty thousand citi- 
zens of Massachusetts, was prepared. John 
G. Whittier and Henry Wilson w^ere dele- 
gated by the Liberty Party to carry this doc- 
ument to Washington. They arrived three 
days before the final vote was taken, which 



40 JVhittier as a Politician 

admitted Texas to the Union. This time they 
spent in active canvassing among members 
of Congress, in the effort to brace up the 
Northern Democrats who v^ere at heart op- 
posed to the measure. But the party drill 
was too strong. Nearly all voted as the 
Southern wing of their party demanded. 
Whittier tells the story in the following let- 
ters from Washington : — 

Washington, 15TH I2th Mo., 1845. 

E.Wright, Jr., Dear Friend: I came to 
this city on seventh day last ; and although 
well nigh sick with fatigue and cold, have 
tried to do all that could be done to promote 
the obj ect of my visit. I have seen and labored 
with several of the Northern Democrats : 
Preston King, Wheaton, and others. They 
all say it is a bad thing to have Texas come 
in as a slave State; they curse between their 
teeth, as it were, the whole Southern wing of 
their party ; but they dare not stand up like 
men against it. Wheaton says he will vote 



IVhittier as a Politician 41 

against the admission ; and the others talk 
very well — how they will vote is another 
question. BrinckerhofF is full of fight ap- 
parently, but even his vote is doubtful. The 
Northern Democrats have had no under- 
standing with each other — in fact each one 
is afraid of his neighbor, and all afraid of the 
South. 

The Whigs also are without concert, and 
too many without heart and feeling in respect 
to slavery. Giddings of Ohio is a noble ex- 
ception . Rockwell from our State will speak 
on the question, and, I trust, well. 

The remonstrances are pouring in pro- 
fusely. Many thousands — I should think 
fifteen or twenty thousand at least to-day. 
I am fully persuaded that had the other free 
States done what Massachusetts has done, 
the mischief might have been averted. As it 
is, I fear it cannot be. My present impression 
isthatthe Democratic members from Maine, 
Vermont, and New York ( with three or four 
exceptions) will vote against the present 



42 TVhittier as a Politician 

constitution of Texas. I have not seen our 
Senators. I had a brief interview with Gen. 
pohn A.] Dix. He is well disposed, but 
weak. Sterner stuff is requisite at this crisis. 

I succeeded in rousing some of the quiet 
Philadelphians . A meeting is to be held there 
to-night. Such men as Dr. Wistar, Judge 
Bonnie, and some of our weighty Quakers 
are engaged in it. The memorials are in cir- 
culation, and will be here to-morrow or next 
day. Gov. Seward is daily expected here. I 
shall do what I can and then leave the city. 
It is too expensive here to remain long as a 
mere looker-on. 

Wilson has been talking with the Whigs, 
and trying to awaken them to a manly and 
resolute effort ; but he has not yet met with 
the success which he hoped for. The debate 
comes on to-morrow. 

Very truly thy friend, 

J. G. Whittier. 



Whittier as a Politician 43 

This brief note, the last in the series, is 
Whittier's announcement of theresult of the 
vote he had been so anxiously awaiting: — 

5 o'clock, I 6th I2TH Mo., 1845. 

Dear Wright : The deed is done, at 
least so far as the House of Representatives 
can do it. Texas is admitted into the Union 
with its slavery. The Northern Democratic 
representatives, with a few exceptions, voted 
for it under the party drill and the or^r^^^r^jye 
of slaveholders. I have seen, in the few days 
I have been here, poor human nature in its 
most pitiful aspect. Northern men protest- 
ing in the name of heaven and earth and a 
worse place than the latter, against the whole 
scheme of Texas, voting for it in an hour 
after ! Such is the fact. The slave power 
rules Congress completely, absolutely. I 
have no time for comment now, as the mail 
is closing. 

J. G. Whittier. 



ADDENDUM 



THE following letter to Professor 
Wright from Mr. Whittier has come 
to light since the foregoing pages were 
printed. It antedates all the others, and is of 
especial interest as illustrating the early po- 
litical aims and methods of Mr. Whittier, 
to which he consistently held during the 
whole anti-slavery contest. It also contains 
some interesting autobiographical material 
not hitherto available. The Philadelphia 
convention of December, 1833, at which 
the American Anti-Slavery Society was or- 
ganized, chose Whittier and Wright as its 
secretaries, and Wright became correspond- 
ing secretary of the new organization, which 
established offices at No. 1 30 Nassau Street, 
New York. Whittier returned to his farm 
in Haverhill, and soon received from Wright 



46 Whittier as a Politician 

a notice that he had been appointed an agent 
of the society. This is Whittier's reply to 
the notification : — 

Haverhill, 25TH of 2d Mo., [1834.] 

My Dear Friend : I ought before this 
to have acknowledged the receipt of a docu- 
ment from thee, appointing me an agent for 
the A. A. S. Society. I am most grateful for 
this mark of confidence, although I needed 
no incentive in this glorious cause. 

The recent developments at Washington 
have astonished everybody. God in his Pro- 
vidence is about to open the eyes of this na- 
tion. The light which is now blazing upon 
us, if unheeded or turned from, will I fear 
be the precursor of sweeping retribution. 

Certainly the friends of suffering human- 
ity have reason to rejoice that the builders of 
the Babel of Prejudice and Oppression have 
been confounded. In the words of Sheridan 
on another occasion, "each clamors to be 
heard in his own barbarous language — each 



Whittier as a Politician 47 

thwarts and reproaches the other, and even 
while their fell rage assails with common 
hate the peace and virtue of the world, the 
civil war in their own tumultuous legions 
defeats the purpose of the foul conspiracy." 
The days of the American Colonization So- 
ciety are numbered. Alas, for those stars of 
our moral firmament which it will soon draw- 
down, like Lucifer, in its fall ! They will not 
read the signsof the times. Strong delusions 
are upon them, and they are willing to be- 
lieve a lie. 

Situated as I am, I can at present do but 
little. I cannot as yet accuse myself of neg- 
lecting any opportunity for the dissemina- 
tion of truth on the great subject of slavery. 
The clergy in this vicinity are rapidly taking 
side with us. There is another class which 
might, I think, be easily moved. I allude to 
that class of politicians or civilians whose 
sphere of influence is limited to their town 
or county. These can take hold of our 
cause without essentially endangering their 



48 Whittier as a Politician 

popularity, and through them the higher 
classes of our statesmen may be reached. I 
have some influence with this class. My ex- 
ertions as a political writer for the last four 
years have gained me a large number of po- 
litical friends. The columns of all the leading 
newspapers are open to me. With many of 
the editors I am on terms of intimate personal 
acquaintance. All know me as a quondam 
brother — as a political friend or opponent. 
Nowif I were at leisure to reply to such mis- 
representations and charges as occasionally 
appear in these papers — to distribute pam- 
phlets and papers — to visit personally gen- 
tlemen in my vicinity and engage their 
co-operation — and finally to combine the 
anti-slavery feeling upon some definite and 
practical object — such, for instance, as the 
election of members of the state legislature, 
who will bring forward and sustain resolu- 
tions instructing our Congressional delega- 
tion to urge the abolition of slavery in the 
District of Columbia — I have no doubt I 
could do good and efficient service. 



JVhittier as a Politician 



49 



But I have really little leisure for such 
exertions. In the first place, my brother 
and myself are almost constantly engaged 
in the affairs of our small farm, which does 
not yield profit enough to enable us to hire 
labor : and I am obliged to occupy my even- 
ings and other leisure time in w^riting occa- 
sional literary articles for the * ' Nev^ England 
Magazine,'' for which I am paid. Besides 
this, I have felt myself under the necessity 
of applying myself to the study of constitu- 
tional law, political economy, etc. What- 
ever I have written on the subject of slavery 
has been by an effort of extra exertion, and 
under circumstances of haste and constant 
interruption. 

Now, if the Executive Committee of the 
American Anti-Slavery Society could assure 
me for the term of six months the sum of 
$1 50, 1 should be able to bend all the ener- 
gies which God has given me to the great 
work before us ; and I fully believe that at 
the end of that time we shall be able to lend 



50 Whittier as a Politician 

both moral and pecuniary strength to the Na- 
tional Society. I have specified that sum as 
the smallest which could possibly meet my 
expenses, as I should be compelled to travel 
considerably from home, and owing to the 
consequent interruption of my labor on the 
farm, I should be under the necessity of 
hiring a person to supply my place. 

I have been induced to make this propo- 
sal from a sincere desire of aiding in the 
advancement of a righteous cause. I have 
recently had an offer, highly favorable in a 
pecuniary point of view, to take charge of a 
political newspaper, but should I accept it, 
my mouth would be closed on the subject 
nearest my heart. The political idols of the 
day will accept of no divided homage. Every 
principle must be compromised — even holy 
truth suppressed — which does not tend to 
their elevation. Besides, I fear should I leave 
this place, that the leaven of anti-slavery, 
which is now working steadily and power- 
fully around me, will be checked by the 



Whittier as a Politician 51 

strong counter influence of Andover Colo- 
nizationism. 

Counsel me, my dear brother. Let me 
hear from thee soon. If in the present state 
of the Society's funds the sum I have named 
cannot be spared — or, if it be urgently de- 
manded in any other direction, believe me, 
I shall most cheerfully acquiesce in the ne- 
cessity, and lose no opportunity of advocat- 
ing to the extent of my ability the cause of 
Truth and Humanity. 

Tell br. Goodell that I shall write him 
soon in reference to the progress of anti- 
slavery in this part of the country. Remem- 
ber me most affectionately to Dr. Cox, and 
my friends Tappan and Denison, and believe 
me thy affectionate friend and co-worker, 
John G. Whittier. 

P. S. Who is the writer of that " coloni- 
zation sermon ? " 'T is excellent. The text 
(Gen. 37) is exactly appropriate. 



52 TVhittier as a Politician 

At the time this letter was written, the 
abolitionists were rejoicing, prematurely as 
it proved, over the bankruptcy and disrup- 
tion of the American Colonization Society, 
which under the pretense of philanthropy 
had been managed in the interest of slave- 
holders. Its agents at the North and in Eng- 
land covertly antagonized the anti-slavery 
movement, and secured the contributions of 
many good people who did not realize that 
they were hindering and not helping the 
cause of the slave. It was this society, then 
suffering from internal dissensions, that 
Whittier characterized as " the Babel of 
Prejudice and Oppression." Many earnest 
reformers were deluded by its pretensions. 
The Theological Seminary at Andover was 
for a time regarded as one of the strongholds 
of the colonization movement, and it will 
be seen by this letter that Whittier felt he 
was needed in that vicinity to counteract its 
influence. The " colonization sermon " re- 
ferred to in the postscript was probably 



^u 



TVhittier as a Politician 53 

some clever satire, founded on the story of 
Joseph being sent to Africa by his brethren, 
to get rid of him. 



H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY 

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 

U. S. A. 



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